Lovers meet in journey's end
by For love of Sunflowers
Summary: SPOILERS contained within. Lovers meet in journey's end, that was how she met him. The journey of someone very important to all those in her order, Desmond Miles, brought about the meeting of two people who wanted nothing more than to forget about the world and the pain it brought them. Future pairing is Shaun/OFC.
1. Introduction

Prompt One: Introduction

It was raining when they had met, the weather seemingly appropriate for the occasion. They were a part of the large crowd gathered to honor the man who had saved all of them. So many assassins in one place was a strange sight, but after Francis had explained just what he had accomplished, she could understand why so many came so far for one man. His name was Desmond Miles, he was born into this life and raised in it, and after he had tried to leave he was dragged right back in to it. She'd been stunned to learn that they had shared common ancestors and after learning that she knew she had to go to his funeral.

She stood at the back of the group of people as they watched and waited for the casket to finally be buried beneath a mound of dirt. It seemed she was the only one who felt horribly out of place. She knew a handful of people but all of them were off with others, trying to offer and accept some form of comfort in this painful moment. It didn't take them long to finally bury him, and as it came to an end the mass of people drifted off to warm up and eat inside of one of the halls that was set aside for the occasion. Leaning against a tree she remained until it seemed that the last of the mourners had finally left, it was then she approached his grave. Despite the snow on the ground, she knelt next to his grave and spoke in soft Italian. She stayed kneeling there for some time before finally standing and brushing off herself, speaking once more before leaving. "Requiescat in pace, Desmond." A sharp turn on her heal, a final salute to the man laying under her feet, left her surprised when she realized she had not been alone.

"Hello."

His voice was soft and cracked as though he had not had taken a drink in days, but from the redness that was obvious in his eyes, she knew it was due to crying. It took her a moment to identify the accent, but after a quick process of elimination she realized he was English. From how distraught he seemed, or rather she assumed, he had known the deceased as more than just a fellow assassin. "Hello," she took a moment to smooth out her robes before speaking, "I am so sorry for you loss."

The laugh that came next was a bit of a surprise, but it was short and bitter in tone. "Didn't even know him, did you? Just another assassin come to pay their respects to the man who saved all of our asses. And now you're here, talking to a corpse of someone who you never cared about in life. You disgust me. Why pretend that you care when all you're thinking about is how you're glad it's not you?" They both stood there for a moment, silent and unmoving before he spoke again, "Look, I'm sorry. He was a friend."

"You don't have to be sorry for anything, a lot of people are how you described. I'm not much different, though believe me if there had been a way for it to be me there instead of him I would of done it. I guess I just wanted to apologize to him, for not being the one there. It's stupid I realize, though we shared common ancestors there was no way for me to be in his place, but I felt it was necessary. He was so important, and had so many people who loved him, and he died so I-so all of us- could live." She spoke quietly, hesitantly, knowing her words-her wishes- were foolish but expressing them anyway. Francis had told her such when she had relayed this to her, telling her that she could not of possibly changed what had to happen.

"Not like it matters now."

"No, I guess not. Were the two of you close?"

"I was a part of the team who worked with him to find the Apple and then later find the device that saved our lives, and took his." His head bowed as he spoke, but lifted when she placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want to be left alone?"

His brown eyes glanced over to the gravestone where his fallen comrade lay before returning to meet hers. "No, he wouldn't of wanted me to grieve over him. We were never the buddy-buddy kind of friends. I was always very sarcastic and he always purposefully annoyed me, but we were friends." The only noise for the next few moments was the sound of the branches in the trees being pushed through the air by the strong winds and the sound of children far off, playing as their parents talked amongst each other. They stood in silence as the snow whipped around them, wetting their clothes farther. "I haven't told you my name yet, how rude of me. I'm Shaun."

"Claire, pleasure to meet you, Shaun." They shook hands before she turned to look at the building. "Do you want to go inside? It's a bit freezing out here, I'll even make us some tea if you'd like."

"You go on ahead, I'll be inside in a moment, if a woman named Rebecca or Francis asks where I am just tell them I'm out here, will you? I think... I think I will stay here for a minute."

A brisk nod was the answer Claire gave, and she walked to go inside before turning back to look at the man behind her. "He may be gone Shaun, but you still have your life. And if you are half the man I believe you are, you have a lot of people who care about you. Don't let the tragedy of losing your friend destroy your life. That is not what he would of wanted. And please, don't ever forget that he did what he did because he loved you, he loved all of us and knew he had to do it. I know my words don't help, and I know they may make you sick to hear them right now, but they are true. You are loved, that much I know. And you have a long life ahead of you, don't throw it away."

She was gone before he had a chance to reply. Shaun wiped back tears as he knelt by Desmond's grave, in the same spot she had not twenty minutes prior. "Look at what you did to me, I haven't cried in years. God Desmond, I miss you. I know I never acted like I cared but you knew that I did, didn't you? I'm an ass, I'm sarcastic it's just who I am. I just hope you realize that I did consider you a friend, and that I miss you. The war between the Templars and the Assassins isn't over, not even close, but thanks to you we have a chance to keep fighting, we have a chance to keep living. Thanks, mate. Try and not be too much of a pain wherever you are." With that he stood and headed inside, determined to find the Claire girl and get the tea he had been promised. Desmond was gone, but she was right, he still had his life. He wouldn't rest until he knew that Desmond's death was not in vane.


	2. Drink

Prompt 78: Drink

When Shaun came inside it took him a few moments to find her among the assassins that were in the room, but once he stopped looking for a red head in white robes he found her. She had changed out of her soaking robes into a pair of black trousers and a white sweater and he found her sitting among a small group of people, all of which who were familiar to Shaun. To her right was Francis, his cousin, and then going around the circle that way were Francis' three brothers Simon, Marcus and Jon, and to her immediate left was Rebecca. Shaun tried to put on a brave face as he approached the group and faked a smile as he reached them. "Started the party without me, eh?"

Claire smiled when she heard his voice behind her, quickly standing and offering him her seat. "I'll go make you that cup of tea I promised, I hope early gray is alright." She left quickly heading in the direction of the kitchen. Shaun watched as she left, admiring the soft spring in her step that he had not seen in a woman in a long time. He sat in the spot that she had just vacated before turning to look at Francis.

"Did you get enough staring in or would you like me to call her back just so you can watch her leave again?" The smirk on her face was large, she had always been a bit of a smart ass just like her cousin. They had a very sarcastically loving relationship with each other, but they had been good friends since they were kids. At Shaun's sour expression Francis knew it wasn't time to joke around. "Sorry mate, just thought it'd make you laugh."

"It's alright."

"Where did you two meet though? I left the two of you alone for like an hour and now I come back and the two of you made a pact to have tea?"

"We met outside, I'd stayed back for a minute and so had she. I assume she felt out of place seeing as you guys were the only ones she knew. Speaking of which, how does she know you?"

"We met years ago when we were still training were friends for years and then one day I shot her in the shoulder with an arrow she stabbed me in the ankle with a knife and then a couple hours later we were getting her Templar tattoo removed and changed into some assassin robes. Pretty normal friendship if you ask me." Francis then proceeded to take a sip of her drink and pretended that there was nothing strange about the sentences she had just spoken. She raised an eyebrow at Shaun's dropped jaw and Rebecca's raised eyebrow. "Yeah, those were good times. Now we just injure other people."

A laugh sounded off behind Shaun as Claire returned with the tea. She set a mug down infront of Shaun before pushing Simon over and sitting between him and Francis. "Those were good times. It's hard to think that I didn't use to belong to the order, though I remember it easily whenever my shoulder acts up." She took a sip of her tea and smiled at the two stunned people at the table. The boys had heard this story a thousand times so the tale came as no shock to them, but for the other two well, a Templar and an Assassin becoming good friends and then the Templar converting were a strange tale indeed. "You can shut your mouth now, Shaun. I promise, it's not as strange of a tale as it seems. I was raised by Templars, raised as a Templar, and until I met Francis their ideals were never challenged. We were friends through all of my teenage years, having no idea that the other belonged to the opposing group. That was until we were both sent on the same mission, well, more like I was sent to gather information and she was sent to stop me but on that mission we discovered who the other was and now we're here. I've been an Assassin for years now, and I owe no loyalty to the group who I once belonged to."

At the end of her story Shaun was left more confused than he had been moments before. However, Rebecca seemed thoroughly amused with the whole story. "Whoa, you guys sound like you had a crazy time. And you, Claire was it? You really were a Templar?"

"I really was. I know it's hard to believe, I can't believe it at times. Though, towards the end of my years there I did a bit more sabotaging than good work. Francis and I actually managed to get some information that was deemed vital to our cause because of my past work for them. I regret ever being a part of it but, what can you do when your family raises you in such a way. I guess I'm lucky to have such a lovely friend as these four in that without them I would still probably be a part of that organization."

"Well, I think I can speak for everyone here when I say we, and the Order, are very lucky to have you. You've only been an assassin for a few years and already you are one of the higher ranked." Simon was the one who spoke at this moment. He had been probably the proudest of her out of the the three brothers second only to Francis. Simon had been the one who was charged with watching over her, Francis having been declared too young at first to do so. He had been the one who had convinced the council that she was as loyal to the order as any born in to it, and it was because of him that she was as good as everyone seemed to say that she was.

"It's only because I had such a brilliant teacher."

"That is true."

Her laughter rang out loud and clear in the room, gathering many a strange looks from the mourners surrounding them. However, her laugh made Shaun smile and it had been a long time since Shaun smiled. Claire's story was strange, but in this world it was not a hard one to believe. He finished off his tea and smiled bright, it was perfect. She hadn't put anything in his tea and by the looks of it, she hadn't in hers either. Finally, an American who knew the proper beverage and the proper way to drink it.

Sitting just diagonal to her gave him a better opportunity to really take her in than he had before. Her hair was more red than brown, the color just a few shades darked than his own. Her eyes were green, and across her left eyebrow she had a long scar. There was a sense of youth about her, he assumed she was only a few years younger than Francis, perhaps in her early 20's. There was an age in her eyes though, Claire had not had an easy life this Shaun could already tell. Her attitude was different now around her friends than it had been when she had been speaking with him outside. Outside she did not have the air of happiness and youth about her, there she had seemed older. He could not stop thinking now about who the real Claire was, the woman he had spoken to outside or the one in here. He was curious about her, he had been tracking all assassin teams for years now, longer than she had even been a member he was sure, so why in his entire time had he not heard of her. He was determined to learn her story, her whole story. After Lucy's betrayal he couldn't simply handle being told things and being expected to believe them.

Claire was looking at him now, occasionally joining in with the conversation going on around the table. He met her gaze slowly raising an eyebrow at her as if to ask why she was staring. Her smile was the only response he got for a minute before she gestured to her mug and then glanced at the door as if to ask if he wanted a refill. He nodded and they both stood up, each reaching for the others cup. "I've got it."

"I'll go with you." She replied quietly before heading for the door. Shaun muttered a quick explanation before following after her, picking up his pace slightly so he was walking in stride with her.

"Quite the interesting story you have."

"It is, isn't it? I know it sounds almost impossible. Sometimes I have trouble believing it. I am not proud that I was once a member of that order but I was, and I know I must now work twice as hard in order to prove my loyalty." She sighed as she turned into the kitchen, "I do think though that I have had enough talk about myself and my life, would you mind not asking anymore questions?" As curious as he was, he could see she was growing sick of talking about her life so he conceded. "Thank you. How are you holding up?"

"Eh, I've been better obviously, but being able to be with my family like that was nice. I haven't seen them in a while."

"Oh, I never realized that you guys were related."

"Cousins. On her mother's side."

"Well, that explains the banter at the table. I haven't seen Francis be that happy in a long time. It was nice to see. It was also nice to see you relax. I can only imagine how hard this has been for you." Her words were sincere that much he could tell, but for some reason he still felt bitter. She motioned to take his mug of tea from him once she realized the water was ready but as he moved to pass it the glass slipped from his grasp shattering on the floor. "Oh bullocks. Here, will you grab me something to put the glass in?"

Shaun moved quickly, grabbing the trashcan from the corner of the room before setting it down next to her and bending down to help her pick up the glass. "You know, I can't remember the last time I heard an American use a British swear properly and know that tea with nothing in it was the proper way to have it." His tone was teasing and Claire couldn't help but smile at him.

"Well then, I guess I'm just not a typical American. Strangely enough, I've always had more of an English mannerism." Once all the glass was picked up she moved over to a cupboard and pulled out another mug before pouring him his tea. "It's been nice meeting you, Shaun. I don't know many people in the order, especially those who are not scared off by my past and are interesting to boot. Though it is getting rather late and I have something I have to do in the morning. Would you mind telling the group that I have gone to bed for the night?"

"Not at all." Shaun watched as she turned towards the door before grabbing her wrist gently, pulling to turn her around. "I'm glad I met you too, Claire. I'd like to see you again if that's possible, as you said, it's not common to meet someone that is agreeable. Well, at least not to me. Most people just think I'm an ass but despite that you actually took the time to have a conversation with me."

"That's because you're not an ass Shaun, you're just a bit of a smart ass. You're a nice guy so I wouldn't be completely opposed to seeing you again. I'm leaving tomorrow but I should be back in a couple of days. If you'd like we could get together then."

"I'd like that."

"Well then, when I arrive back I'll let you know." He watched as she walked out, smiling to himself. He had a feeling that if everything checked out with her background, he could grow to really like this woman. She was smart, sassy, and well, not too bad on the eyes. He liked her he decided, and this was evident when he walked back in to where the rest of the group, as she called them, still were. Francis leaned over to him when he arrived, saying how she had not seen him smile in a long time and asked what exactly had happened when they had gone to get tea. He didn't bother giving her a response, simply telling her what Claire had said to. As he sat back in his chair only one thought crossed his mind, he was excited to see her again.


	3. Questioning

Prompt 16: Questioning

Locked away inside of his office he had been pouring over the information that he had gotten from Francis. His job as an informant allowed him access to almost all files but he just felt slightly wrong about going and getting her folder. Most of the information wasn't too surprising but some of the things he had read well, he expected it to be bad but this was worse than he had imagined. He had specifically asked Francis to remove any information that Claire had refused to share with anyone but who she had to, and even with that removed there was a lot here. Shaun had initially felt bad when he started reading the files, but then that voice came back into his head reminding him that he had to know that he wouldn't be betrayed again.

The last thing he had read had occurred when she was 16 and already a highly praised Templar. It seemed that Claire along with an unidentified male had managed to end an entire bloodline of Assassins, killing children and innocents in the process. Reading the passage had made him feel sick, he had known that family. He remembered the day they had been killed, he remembered reading the report, it was gruesome. Though as he read on he realized that he had known, or at least heard of, most of the people Claire had been recorded as killing. There were hundreds of names in the file in front of him, he just prayed that the list would stop soon. He had blood on his hands yes but to have that much on your hands, to of taken that many lives, he couldn't imagine having that much blood on his hands. He didn't know how she did it.

After a few more gruesome entries he finally reached when she had joined up with the Assassins and was surprised to find her psych profile jammed in with the rest of the information. Typically with his job he got to read just the diagnosis in the persons file but for some reason it seemed that her entire file was there complete with the Doctor's notes on her from the few required sessions that every Assassin went through. It took him a minute to decide if he should read the notes but he finally decided to just read what was normally allowed to him. He knew he couldn't really invade her privacy more than he already was but he felt that at least some parts of her deserved to be hers and hers alone.

Shaun had seen some rather long patient diagnosis in his time, Assassins typically having quite a few problems, Claire it seemed was no exception. Then again, neither was he, and nor were the Templars. He picked up a few of the normal conditions, for assassins that is, that she had been declared as having: Bipolar disorder, anger management issues and slight social anxiety. There were a few in her file though that weren't as common. Clinical Depression was listed under a heading of Most Severe and later on down the list it also noted that she had slight bouts of insanity. It was hard for him to believe a girl like Claire who had seemed so happy and carefree could suffer from these problems. What really struck him as odd though, is that there was a small section on the page that had been blacked out so it could not be read.

A knock on the door broke his concentration and at first he blew it off until he heard Francis' voice. "I know you're in there, Shaun. Let me in." He stood with a sigh and moved to unlock the door. Francis came into the room and sat in the previously occupied chair before plopping her feet up on the desk much to Shaun's annoyance. "Read anything that's really shocked you yet or haven't you gotten to the good part?"

"I've read plenty, now could you please get your feet off of my desk?"

Ignoring his request Francis picked up the file and looked at where it had been left open to, "Ah, her psych profile. I remember when she first told me what she had been diagnosed with, it's worse than mine."

"It was pretty bad, I'm kind of surprised how she can be so happy and have had these things in her life for so long." Shaun moved over to his desk and pushed her feet off of it before sitting where her feet had previously been. "I mean, she seems so... normal. Well, not normal but normal for us."

"We both know that it's the most seemingly normal of people who are the most disturbed. Claire's had a lot happen to her in her lifetime, more than you or I even know. Make no mistake Shaun, she is a happy person, most of the time. Count yourself lucky if you never see her when she's mad, or sad, or suffering from a bout of insanity that was caused by the bleeding effect." She then shut Claire's folder and stood up. "She's on her way back, I'd appreciate it if you could meet her when she gets here. She'll be here 'round 9. I have my own mission that I'm leaving on tonight and I don't want her to be alone. It seems that she ran into an old friend of hers that wasn't too happy to see her."

Shaun nodded, he would have done it just because Francis had asked but he was desperate to see Claire again. There was still one thing on his mind that he thought reading her file would accomplish but it hadn't. "Francis, I need to know. Can we trust her? Can I trust her? She was loyal to them for so long, what if she's just another sleeper agent? We can't afford more betrayal."

What happened next Shaun simply was not expecting. He knew his cousin got angry easily but he never expected her to punch him square in the jaw. "You have no idea what they put her through, if you knew what she went through- the things that aren't included in that damn file of yours- you would understand that she could never go back to them because she would rather die a million times over. That is no exaggeration either, I trust her with my life and I don't trust easily. Not everyone is going to turn out like Lucy."

"Yeah." He rubbed his jaw and turned to look out the window. He was still trying to figure out how he felt about the whole Lucy thing. She'd betrayed them, and even so he had gone to her funeral. She had been a friend and even though her actions had caused him to fear for his life he couldn't bring himself to hate her. He knew why he was so caught up in making sure that she wasn't going to betray them, he didn't want to lose more people he cared about. "I'll go get Claire tonight. Call me when you're done with your mission, okay?"

"I always do." With that Francis walked out of the room leaving Shaun to his thoughts. He picked up the file that she had left on the desk and placed it in the pile with the other ones to be returned to wherever they were being stored currently. Looking at the clock he realized he only had an hour or so before she was due to arrive so after shutting down his computer he locked the room headed back to where he had been living for the past few weeks. He had a feeling that whoever it was Claire had seen was someone from her past and from the way Francis had spoken it sounded like she wasn't too sure if Claire would be mentally okay when she got back. Having taken a quick shower he grabbed a mug out of the cupboard before making tea and with one last look to make sure he wasn't forgetting anything he headed off to meet Claire. He had a lot of questions for her, but for tonight, he would keep his mouth shut. His questioning could wait for another day.


	4. Memory

**Authors Note: I feel bad because after having written and posted the previous three chapters I had not yet written a note to my readers, if any of you are out there that is. I've been trying to get time to type this chapter up for a good two weeks now but I have not had time with the business that is school. With that said, I will be on winter break for the next few weeks starting Friday and because of that I am hoping to get a few chapters written and hopefully post a Christmas themed chapter. I also want to say thank you for coming along and reading the story thus far, I know it's a strange pairing in the world of everything that is Assassins Creed and because of that I am not really expecting anything from it other than the enjoyment of writing that. However with that said, if you do enjoy this story, which I hope you do, I would love to hear from you because you, the readers, are in the end why I write.**

**Enjoy. **

When Shaun found her she had a smile on her face despite how terrible she looked. Her robes were torn in many different places and through the rips in the white cloth he could see some slightly deep cuts. On one eye he could see a large bruise forming and as she walked towards him he realized she was clutching her left fore-arm. He plastered a smile on his face when he reached her not wanting to betray what he had previously been doing. "You look terrible, Claire. Lets get you back to your room and we'll get you cleaned up. Mission went wrong, eh?"

"No, I accomplished exactly what I was sent out to do but I well, I ran into an old colleague of mine. He uh, wasn't too happy to see that I joined up with the Assassins." She moved to lead him to her room but before they had even moved 100 feet she collapsed to the ground having fallen unconscious. Shaun quickly picked her up and half-ran as he carried her to the medical wing.

A couple of hours passed until Claire was declared lucid and mentally stable enough for Shaun to see her. When he entered her room he noticed an I.V. hooked up to her arm and a multitude of bandages covering what parts of her flesh he could see. She seemed only to notice him after he had sat down next to her. "Hey Claire, you're looking better." He meant it too. When he had first seen her he felt like he was looking at death, it had been a long time since he had seen anyone quite so beat up after a mission. Not physically beat up in this case, but mentally. Something about this mission had really screwed with her, he didn't know what, but he knew it was bad.

His words caused her to laugh but that quickly stopped when she felt pain in her mid-section. "Ow!" She took a minute to catch her breath before continuing to speak. "Don't make me laugh, Shaun, hurts when I laugh. What exactly is wrong with me? I uh, don't remember much from the past couple of hours. Last thing I really remember is dragging myself to my plane after Jensen beat the shit out of me."

"You've got a few cracked ribs, a couple deeper cuts in some places that they had to stitch up, a twisted ankle, and the doctors told me you're lucky to still have your left arm because that cut in particular was very bad." He watched as she absorbed the information and her expression changed to one of anger before returning to a calmer one.

"No surprise there, Jensen would be very happy to know I wouldn't be able to kill him." Shaun could see in that moment that she held no feelings other than hate towards the man. He had seen the look that she was giving only once before, and that was when Francis hunted down the people who had betrayed her family. It scared him to be honest, what could this one man of done to her to make her this angry?

"Is Jensen the man you worked with when you took out that family?" The words were out of his mouth before he truly realized what he had said. He hadn't particularly wanted her to know that he had read her file, he had supposed if she asked he could claim it was for his job but he didn't want to lie to her.

"You read my file?" To Shaun, Claire didn't seem angry, but rather surprised. More so than simply surprised she seemed ashamed at what she knew had read. When he didn't respond immediately Claire took a deep breath as she could before speaking again. "Yeah, that was Jensen. I... how much did you read, Shaun?"

"Most of what lead up to you joining the Assassins and the diagnosis on your psych profile. Francis went through the copy of the file and blacked out things you had refused to share with anyone but the people you had to. I only read what I would be allowed to for my job. I'm sorry, Claire." His words failed him for a moment. He didn't want her to think that he didn't trust her, but that was exactly what had led him to do what he had done. "I didn't know a thing about you and I just can't handle not knowing things anymore. I lost my best friend because we didn't know things. I watched as a father lost his son, I had to drag him out of that damn cave because he didn't want to leave Desmond alone. I was the one who had to tell his mother because his father simply couldn't find the words. I can't go through the pain that I felt in that time again. It nearly killed me the first time, I don't know if I could go through that again."

By the end of it, Shaun wasn't looking at her anymore, he didn't feel like he was even in the same room as her. In his mind, he was watching the scenes he had just described play out over and over again in his head. Claire used what was left of her energy to try and rouse him from the episode he was currently having. It took a few shakes but eventually his eyes returned to hers. "I understand, Shaun. Fear makes us do and think the worst of people. You read my file, you know what I did. I did everything out of fear, that's how the Templars run their organization after all. You live in the fear every day that if you disobey they would either kill you, or a loved one, and in my case it was my baby sister."

"You have a sister? There wasn't anything in your file about her."

"That's because she never took sides. Ann is in isolations somewhere, even I don't know where. My parents were terrible to her, always threatening to hurt her if I disobeyed. If I was just a hair out of line, if I failed one mission, they would kill her. So one day while they were both gone on assignments I packed up her things and put her in contact with someone who could make her disappear. I get messages from her on occasion to let me know that she's okay, but I haven't spoken with her in years."

"You must miss her."

"I do, more than you can imagine. Think of the pain you felt after losing Desmond, now imagine that you grew up with him, shaped him into the person who he was, and was the only person who ever showed him compassion and then you may have an idea of how I felt about my sister." With a sigh she sat up in her bed and motioned for him to sit on the bed next to her. "You didn't want to here about my sister though, I'm guessing you want to know about Jensen."

Shaun however, remained standing. "It can wait. You've gone through a lot today and your Doctor will kill me if I keep you up all night. I'll come back in the morning and we can talk then, I'll bring my computer and we can fill out the debrief then. Sound good?"

With a small smile she looked up at him and nodded. "It's a date. Don't be late, Hastings. Oh, and by the way, I suggest you bring me tea in the morning or else I will be a very irritable woman."

Shaun laughed, the sound still slightly strange to his ears and bent down to kiss her on the forehead. "Get some sleep, Claire. Don't give the nurses too much trouble, and take care of yourself, okay?"

"Yes, mother."

"Goodnight, Claire."

"Goodnight, Shaun."

Claire watched as Shaun walked out, and when she was sure he was gone she raised a hand to rest where he had kissed her forehead. She hadn't felt another's lips on her in a long time, especially not in such soft way. Was that the reason that her skin tingled slightly where he had kissed her, or was it something else entirely?

Shaun returned home and after having gotten ready for the night he found himself unable to sleep. He had not realized until he had reached his door what he had done. He had kissed her. Sitting in bed that night he thought of what in the name of all that was good possessed him to do that. He had never done something so impulsive in his romantic life, but as he continued to think he did not regret his actions. He wasn't sure what her reception would be to him when the morning came, but regardless of what happened tomorrow, he finally realized what the strange feeling that was keeping him awake. He was happy, and he was nervous. It was in that moment he realized what these feelings meant, despite knowing her past, he was starting to really like this woman, more so than he had like any others that he had met. He was determined that the morning would go well, and if it did not well, you can't blame a man for trying, that was his last thought as he fell asleep with a smile on his face.


	5. Flowers

Two cups of tea were carefully balanced on top of a small stack of books as he walked from his office to the medical wing, a bag containing his laptop slung over his shoulder. He had tried to get done as much work as he could early that morning so his time with Claire would not be interrupted. People were taken aback as he walked by, not due to the large amount of books in his arms, but rather to the smile on his face. Most people never knew Shaun to be a particularly happy person, so it was strange for them to see him smile. When he reached Claire's room in the medical wing he knocked on the door frame with his foot and entered when he heard her invite him in. "Good Morning, Claire." He spoke as he set down the stack of books and resting his bag on an open chair. "I brought you tea, earl grey. These flowers are lovely, by the way."

Sitting on the table next to her hospital bed was a large arrangement of bright sunflowers with a small card next to them. A smile lit up on her face as she took the tea from him and looked over at the flowers. "Simon stopped by early this morning and dropped them off. Thank you for the tea, Shaun." Pushing herself up in the bed she made room for him at the end, sipping on her tea as she did so. "They're my favorite flower, always have been. Simon always gets me a bouquet of them for my birthday."

"What makes you love them so much?"

"When I was little my parents took me to the Musée d'Orsay and I saw the Van Gogh exhibit. Ever since then I've loved sunflowers. The price of those sunflowers though."

Nodding Shaun opened up his laptop at the foot of the bed. "I always appreciated his art. He may have been mad, but he was brilliant. Now, I've already written up the preliminary information that I could and recorded the state that I found you in and what your injuries were. I just need to tell me what happened during the mission."

"As you know my mission was to retrieve and destroy information at an Abstergo Headquarters in Amsterdam. The information that I was sent to retrieve was a list of names of Assassins that had been leaked and to destroy any information regarding the operations of assassins in that sector. I uploaded the data I was sent to retrieve to the council and deleted a large chunk of the information they had collected."

Without looking up from his computer he spoke up. "And how were your injuries sustained?"

"I ran in to a Templar that I had worked with when I still was aligned with them."

"Name?"

"Jensen Sheppard."

"Description?"

"6'3, blonde hair, green eyes. Very highly trained. He was armed with multiple knives, a hand gun, and a baton. He is second in command of the second largest Abstergo facility. He is attributed with having killed over a hundred assassins and most likely over a thousand people. He has a particular disdain for assassins, especially Templars who switch sides."

"And what occurred during the mission?"

Claire stayed silent for a minute, taking time to remember all the details of the fight. "I sneaked into the building through the ventilation system and managed to completely upload the information to the council and destroyed a majority of information when Jensen came up behind me and took a shot at me. I exited the room through a side door and attempted to exit the building via the roof. He then followed me to the roof and we had a confrontation there.

"He spoke to me for a number of minutes, attempting to shame me for my treachery against the Templar order and brought up my sister who has since then been relocated. He was attempting to distract me enough to knock me out and return me to his master so I could 'Pay for my crimes against the Templar order.' Though, if it was up to him he would of killed me then and there. It was at that point I attacked him, one of my knives in my hand, but he averted my strike and landed the deep cut on my left arm. I landed in a roll and once I was up again I launched one of my throwing knives at him and it embedded itself into his knee. He attempted to shoot me for a second time, causing the graze on my leg. I lunged at him, managing to tackle him to the ground and I sent his fun over the edge of the roof."

She rubbed her neck for a minute when Shaun spoke again. "Take all the time you need Claire. I have plenty of time. Once we're done filling this out I'll take you down to the mess for breakfast, okay?" Claire nodded, readjusting herself on her bed taking a sip of her tea as she did so.

"He flipped us over and attempted to strangle me, using his free hand to land a few blows to my face. I managed to kick him off of me and I went for my handgun but he lunged for me again. I avoided his strike before charging at him and stabbing him in the shoulder with my hidden blade. That gave me enough time to jump from one roof to another. Jensen pursued me but I managed to lose him. I then returned to my ride and contacted HQ to let them know I would be returning shortly and promptly passed out. When I arrived here I was greeted by Shaun Hastings, a member of the information branch of the Assassins, and brought to the Medical Wing where I recovered from my wounds."

It took Shaun a few moments more before he finished typing but when he did he submitted the report before shutting off his laptop and replacing it in the bag. "I can wait here if you need to freshen up or anything."

"I just need to get dressed. I don't really think the order would appreciate it if I walked around the compound in a hospital gown."

"I'm sure the men wouldn't mind."

"Are you flirting with me Mr. Hastings?" Claire raised her eyebrow as she said this before laughing at his expression. "I'm going to get dressed now. Try not to miss me too much." With that Claire slipped out of bed and picked up the fresh pair of Assassin robes that had been laid out for her before slipping into the bathroom. Shaun stood up and moved to look out of the window as he waited for her to come back. He had noticed Claire was healing quite well, but he wasn't sure how much longer she would be in here for. Another thing that was worrying Shaun was that Francis had yet to make contact since she had left for her mission. He knew he should tell Claire, but first he had to confirm that something was wrong and even then the first people to know would have to be the council.

Claire came out of the bathroom in a matter of minutes, strapping on her belt as she came out. Spinning around slowly, she allowed him to examine her. "Well, Shaun, how do I look?"

Walking over to her he smiled and reached out a hand for her. Taking her hand in his he kissed it gently and smiled. "You look absolutely ravishing Madam Assassin."

Claire laughed loudly and dropped her hand out of his. "Thank you. Now come on, how about that breakfast, I'm starving."

They'd only just sat down with their food when Shaun's phone rang. Claire watched as he listened and his face paled. She waited until he hung up before asking him what had happened. "Claire, I don't know how to tell you this. That was Simon, the council just alerted him that Francis has been captured by Templars."


	6. Waiting

Prompt: Waiting

Shouts could be heard from where Shaun was outside of the building, as soon as he had told Claire that Francis had been taken prisoner she stormed over to the council's chambers only to be met by an equally worried Simon. He hadn't heard what had made Claire start screaming at Simon, but by the sounds of it she wouldn't be aloud to go on the mission to recover Francis. Bracing himself for what lay inside he pushed open the door and stepped through the doorway to be greeted by the sight of all 5'8 of Claire glaring up as menacingly as he had ever seen at all 6'5 of Simon. "Don't give me that bullshit about me being injured, we both know I've been hurt a lot worse then this and I've still gone on missions. Stop lying to me and tell me the truth of why I can't go help save her!"

It was at this point that Simon reversed their positions and shoved Claire up against the wall. "Listen to me, Claire and listen well. You keep screaming at me, questioning my orders and destroying council property then I will insist the council demotes you. You answer to me and you do not ask why I don't let you do things, understood? If I say you're not going then you're not going and if you're still so damn curious as to why then I'll tell you after I get my goddamn sister out of the hands of people who want her and everyone else I care about dead. Now do we have a problem or are you going to calm down?" It wasn't until Simon said something that Shaun noticed the copious amounts of broken glass surrounding the pair. Shaun had known Simon all of his life, and he knew that he would never react by destroying things, he was too logical but Claire it seemed was not above it.

Shaun watched as Claire moved to push Simon off of her and Simon pushed back keeping her against the wall. Simon, Shaun had learned, was a tough master to have. He had seen Simon train pupils only a few time, never his own just ones whose Master was on a mission, and he had never seen someone run, climb, fight, and learn so much in one day. You could not say he was cruel though, instead of just putting the novices through the paces he worked with them, he set goals he knew they could reach as long as they pushed themselves. The room was quite for the next few minutes the only sounds were deep breaths coming from the fighting pair. Eventually Claire spoke up.

"Understood. Simon just... bring her back in one piece okay? Hurry but be careful, I know what those bastards are like and I don't want to have to come and rescue both of your asses." A small smile broke out on to her face as she leaned up and hugged him. "Safety and Peace, Master"

"I'll return within the next few days. I'll alert you when I have her, okay?" Placing a small kiss on her head before turning to smile at Shaun, Simon left the building quickly, heading straight for the transportation hub. Shaun moved to say something to Claire but when he turned he found her mysteriously gone.

That was the last Shaun saw of her that day and indeed most of the next day until he awoke the next night and wandered around. He was used to waking up at odd hours and he had made a habit of when he did to go for a walk so he could think a bit before trying to go to bed. Tonight he'd woken up from a nightmare and as he was walking by the outdoor training yard he saw a red haired figured running tirelessly around the large track. By the sweat marks on her clothes, she'd been here for a long time. Most people trained here early in the morning but as of late it was getting colder so many of the Masters were training their pupils inside. This explained why everyone he had asked said that they had not seen Claire yet that day. Deciding against approaching her directly Shaun moved up to the observation area and sat down, watching as the girl thudded around the track.

He watched her run for at least the next hour before she moved off of the track to where they kept the practice bags, pounding thunderously into the dummy without a moment of rest in between her run and that. He watched this go on for a bit longer until he watched her finally take a step back and lean against the railing of the track. Her chest heaved as she tried to regain her breath, knowing that she had most certainly overworked herself. Shaun moved from his position down to where Claire was speaking up when he was almost there. "So this is where you've been hiding, eh?"

"Yup." Her voice was cool and controlled despite the intense workout she was now recovering from. "If you'll excuse me I'm going to retire for the night."

"It's 5 in the morning Claire, you've got to be up in an hour."

"I'm aware." With this she pushed past him and headed in the direction of her home. Shaun stood in place, slightly shocked as he watched Claire walk away. He didn't know her well enough to know if this was just how she is, or if it was due to something else. Normally he would ask one of his cousins what was going on but Simon had taken Jon with him to rescue Francis and Marcus was off on his own mission.

He was starting to get worried on the second day that Simon was gone, but not about this mission to recover Francis, Simon had contacted them at each time they had specified so far and it seemed that he and Jon would recover Francis later that day. He was worried about Claire. He had made sure to walk by her house before he headed to the office and it seemed that she had yet to be there. When he went to the mess hall he checked with the staff to see if she had been in to eat in the past day and a half and it turns out they hadn't seen her since she had been there with him. At the end of the day after he had received conformation from Simon that they had recovered Francis and were heading back to base he closed up for the day and went by the check the training area to see if she was there.

The thing was though, she wasn't even there. Simon and Jon would be back tomorrow afternoon, and he vowed if he didn't see Claire then that he would alert the one of the boys. He pulled his coat up tighter around himself as he returned home, stopping only when he looked over to Claire's area and saw that there was someone perched on her roof. Looks like he'd found her. Shaun decided against going over there, perhaps he would only make the situation worse. He ducked inside of his house, shutting the door behind him. He looked out his window just before he went to be and he could of sworn he saw the figure on the roof wave before climbing down off of it.

It was unusually quiet the next afternoon when Simon and Jon arrived back, Francis being carried bridal style in Jon's arm as they headed to medical facilities. Simon stopped for a minute when he thought he saw someone duck in to the shadows behind them as they walked. He motioned Jon on forward, stopping where he stood and waited for a minute before speaking up. "Claire, you can stop hiding. She's okay, just sleeping. They had her sedated and the only reason we're taking her to the medical wing is because it's standard procedure if someone has been sedated."

Claire showed up next to Simon when he had finished speaking and while anyone else who saw her would have been surprised at her change in appearance, Simon wasn't. Claire's red hair was piled on the top of her head, the ends were tangled together and while it had been washed it didn't look like it had been brushed. She was also still in the clothes that she had been working out in when Shaun had found her and her pale skin was even paler with an unusual grey tint to it. Her eyes were bloodshot and her face seemed void of emotions.

"I thought we'd gotten you so you would react better to these kinds of things. You look terrible Claire, you were doing so well too. You'd been sleeping and eating and taking good care of yourself and you threw that all away for what? So you were worried about your friend, that does not give you a good reason to do this to yourself. I even asked Shaun to watch over you, how could he let you do this? If you want to see Francis before she's ready to come and find you I suggest you pull yourself together, eat something, sleep and then go get something small to eat. Next time I see you I want you looking a hell of a lot better than you did. Now if you'll excuse me I have a cousin to shout at and a sister to watch over."

Simon started walking away from her, having already contacted Shaun and told him to meet him outside of the medical building. He stopped for a short second when he heard Claire shout for him, her voice hoarse but quickly moved again. Claire jogged after him quickly coming up to his side. "I know I've disappointed you, Simon. Don't blame Shaun though. I've been avoiding everyone since you left and the one time he did find me I brushed him off. He went after me but we both know he's no athlete, I avoided him easily. Just... go easy on him okay? I'll see you after I've gotten some sleep and a shower."

"And eaten." He reminded her.

"And eaten."

With that the two went in separate ways, one heading for their home and another for the hospital building. One went to go and clean up their act, and another went to watch over and protect their sibling. The next time they saw each other they had both done what had been agreed on, and they sat together along with Jon watching over the one person who had brought them together. Shaun showed up but Claire had avoided him, moving out of the room when he was there making the excuse that she had work to get done. She returned when he had left and had left Shaun wondering just what he had done wrong. Simon had explained to him that this was how Claire used to react to things though she had been doing better, and that she'd come around. He thought it was due to the stress of not only Francis' capture but also to seeing her old partner again. Simon and Jon told Shaun not to worry, just go and talk to her the next morning. They'd agreed to all meet up for breakfast the next morning for Francis would be awake within a few hours and so Shaun went to sleep that night not having seen Claire for the past two days. He was starting to realize the effect she was having on him because God, did he miss her.


	7. I am trying

Prompt: I am trying

The mess hall was always busy, but never overly loud. Most Assassins ate their food or silence, the novices spending their free time reviewing the material that their masters had assigned. At the tables at the head of the room sat some of the masters chatting about various things, but other sat among the pupils answering their question when they had them.

In the back most corner of the room sat a large pile of books, multiple cups of tea and a laptop with a distinct red haired man asleep on the keyboard. He'd come in early before his meeting with Simon, Marcus and Jon after a rather restless night. Claire had not shown while Shaun had been waiting or during breakfast.

She did, however, show up while Shaun was still asleep. She looked visually better than she had been and had even dressed herself in her robes. In her arms she carried a stack of books that rivaled Shaun, placing those down on a table in the opposite corner of the room; she removed a travel mug, filled with her favorite tea, with the initials S.H. on it and a sealed envelope. Taking a deep breath she walked over to Shaun, and carefully placed these things down next to him. Claire moved and picked up the disregarded cups and carried them over to the garbage. She took one more look at him before walking into the line for food and then heading over to her table to wait until she had to leave for her morning lessons.

When Shaun woke up, to the sound of the start of lessons bell, the room was mostly empty, he pulled his glasses off and rubbed his eyes before he noticed the tea and the envelope in front of him. "What the-?" He started to say before the smell of still warm earl grey reached him. Leaning forward, he took the mug and sipped on the contents, it was made perfectly. He slipped his glasses on before taking the small knife he carried and opened up the envelope. Unfolding the paper inside, he began to read.

_ I had gone through three different masters before I wound up with Simon. The reason behind this is that I had never learned how to deal with things growing up how I did, and if it wasn't for Simon I would of never become the person I am today. When I was young I was never taught how to react to things, they were too busy trying to teach me how to kill quickly and cleanly. So when I was paired up with Jensen I thought the way he reacted (booze, sex, violence, etc..) was the normal way to respond to things. Eventually after being punished for years by those higher up than myself, I became incredibly self-destructive. It wasn't until I met Francis that I found out what I had been used to wasn't normal._

_ When I came to the Assassins I slowly got better, but none of the first three masters could understand or "correct" me as quickly as they wanted to. I was Simon's first student, and he was my last hope. If I didn't succeed under him, I would never become an assassin. Did you ever wonder why Simon is so hard on his students? It's because he never wanted another student to be as hard as me._

_ This is the first time I've gotten really bad again in a while, and I'm sorry you had to deal with the fall out. Shaun, the thing is, I know what they do at that facility. I spent three years there from when I was 13 to when I was 16. Every day I was stuffed inside of a gen 1 animus and at the end of the day, well, I'd developed early and some of the people at the facility took advantage of it. There is so much damage that they can do in just a matter of hours and I couldn't handle the idea that they would do that to her. I have been away from that hellhole for years, since I was 17 and I am still not fully recovered. _

_ None of this, however, excuses how I acted and I am truly sorry. Some days I am like a grenade waiting to go off, and on those days I'd like to limit how many people I hurt. I can not promise that this will never happen again, but I will try, for you. I hope you can forgive me, if not, I understand._

_Always,_

_Claire_

He remained motionless for a minute before yanking on his jacket and showing the letter in his pocket. Packing quickly he grabbed his things and dialed Simon's number, holding the phone between his cheek and shoulder. "Simon, is Claire with you?" "Yes, she's currently running her morning laps. Why?" "Can I borrow her for a minute if I come down there?" "If you can catch her and stay with her. You may be family, but I have to review her condition before we meet with the council today." "Be there in five." He hung up his phone and dumped his things outside his home before jogging over to the track. He waved at Simon as he jogged directly onto the track, quickly catching up to Claire. They ran in silence for a minute before Claire, whose voice was mostly level, spoke up. "I never pictured you as a runner." "I may work mostly in the offices but like you, I am an assassin." Silence again fell and they stayed silent until Claire had finished her laps and that is when Shaun made his move. "Thank you for explaining everything to me in that letter. Also for the tea." "You're welcome. I didn't want you to think you'd done anything wrong and I despised you." "Never. I'll let you get back to training but just know when you are better, I will be waiting." Shaun gave her a soft smile and kissed her on the forehead before taking his leave, headed home whispering as he went. "I will wait, for you."


End file.
